


what happens under the castle, stays under the castle

by ofthecloudsjpeg



Series: triforce bros <3 [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: BOTW 2 Teaser Trailer, BotW 2, Gen, I Just Want Them To Be Friends Is That Too Much To Ask, I Want Triforce Friendship So Bad, Let Ganon Be Good, Mute Link, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, ask to tag, but its not a big part haha, please help me learn to tag, pure self-indulgence babey!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 19:17:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20120296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofthecloudsjpeg/pseuds/ofthecloudsjpeg
Summary: Zelda continues to travel further and further into the heart of the castle.That’s when she hears it.The moaning… groaning of a weakened man, “Oh Zelda... Oh Link... Please find my body...”





	what happens under the castle, stays under the castle

**Author's Note:**

> Edited 5/8/2020. Cleaned it up, nothing major to the plot.

Zelda only had him back for a few months.

Only a few.

After years and years of heartache, misery, stress, and exhaustion, they deserved more than a few months of barely seeing each other. Their bones ache with mistreatment, and their bodies demand rest, as do their minds.

But Hyrule cannot thrive without a Queen.

After she and Link defeated Calamity Ganon once and for all, there were things to be done. She and Link rested for a few days before travelling to Kakariko Village to consult with Impa on what to do.

And there was _ a lot _ to do.

Zelda and Link barely had any time to think by themselves, let alone communicate with one another. They had little to no time for themselves to get Link’s memories back, to help Zelda with her trauma from the last 100 years, and to simply be friends again. 

There was just too much work to be done.

But then, something strange happened.

After Calamity Ganon was destroyed, Lady Impa told them one of the wisest things they could do is take back Hyrule Castle and refurbish it back to its former glory. People could look upon the castle and hope once more, that Hyrule could thrive again. Then, they could move from there, from helping small towns to rebuilding the surrounding cities by scratch. 

So for the past few months, Hyrule Castle has been being rebuilt, and for the first time ever, Zelda finally has access to things her father would never have let her come close to, like the Guardians and secret passageways.

She’s ecstatic to see everything that can be done in their favor with the Guardians, but is understandably anxious to face them, as is Link. She leaves them be for now, letting only Royal Guards, Hyrulean scientists, and construction workers to tinker with them.

As for the secret hideaways and passages, on their time off, Link shows her some he’s found during Calamity Ganon’s stay. A giant Stone Talus lives and hides beneath her home! What a wondrous discovery.

(She almost feels like a child again when he’s around. She almost feels like she could be happy.)

Hyrule Castle has been her home since she was a little girl. Nothing can change that. But she never got to roam the halls freely, nor had she gotten to see most of the underground. The fact that Link, her appointed knight who hasn’t even _ lived _in Hyrule Castle for no more than four years, knows it more than she does is a little pathetic.

No, actually, it’s a lot pathetic.

Zelda appreciates Link showing her the passages he finds, and she would still love for him to show her as he learns, but she would still like to find her own ways around the castle, as well. So, she goes off alone at times, but is cautious around the Sanctum. She’s been there for far too long in her lifetime, for anyone’s lifetime. She would rather not set foot in it ever again if she had her way.

As Guardians slowly get put away in confinement, she wanders more and more paths that she’s known all her life, yet knows nothing about. Did you know that if you travel to the Dining Hall, there’s a secret room behind the fireplace? Link doesn’t know about that one yet, but he’ll be pleasantly surprised to hear it from Zelda.

Once, she hears of a Hinox loudly snoring, and quietly, but quickly, ushers the construction workers out of there and sends the Royal Guard to get rid of the problem. Now that Calamity Ganon is gone, the blood moon will no longer rise, and the evil monsters that lurk everywhere won’t suddenly come back stronger than before.

Good riddance.

As Zelda continues her work within the walls of Hyrule Castle, Link continues to travel to far away places to continue to help others and finally rid the monsters creeping around every corner. He also wishes to consult the villages on what to do if there are suddenly any signs of Ganon or another deadly creature of the like if they ever show up. 

_ Every place _ , he signs, slow and deliberate, _ seems so grateful, whether it’s a bigger village like Hateno, or a smaller one like Lurelin. It’s… great to see people finally relax and be safe. _ He comes back once a week to catch up, and each time Zelda sees him he comes back with a bigger smile on his face and a weight seemingly off of his shoulders. 

She doesn’t understand why. He needn’t carry the weight of the world on his back any longer. He’s done far more than he needs to for Hyrule, for Hylia. 

The days get longer in terms of more work to be done (for both of them), both in and out of the castle, and Zelda continues to travel further and further into the heart of the castle. 

And that’s when she hears it.

The moaning-- no, _ groaning _ of a weakened man, “ _ Zelda… Help me… Please… Come find me…” _

She asks the guards if they hear the voice, but they don’t.

A pit sits at her stomach like an anchor, weighing her down. She confides in Link when he visits back, and he immediately goes with her to Underground Hyrule Castle.

Only after a few minutes into the trek does he stop. His expression is curious, but filled with horror. She knows he hates it when he can’t do anything about people who are in danger, or being hurt.

_ Zelda _ , he signs, _ I hear it… But I think it’s coming from further below. _

She sighs, half frustrated that he can hear it from a further distance than she can (“Does he have to be better than me at _ everything _?”), but curious. 

+

After a few hours, the construction workers are mining their way down with no end in sight.

+

One week later, the voice gets stronger. She swears she can hear it in her dreams, from her own bedroom window, and she longs to free the man from his treachery. 

+

Pretty soon, it’s unbearable.

The voice gets stronger, and he calls out to Zelda and Link several times a day. The aching in the man’s voice is pure torture.

It’s a good thing the construction workers are good at what they do.

+

They found… an opening. 

It’s a long tunnel that stretches far out left and far out right. There’s no end in sight either way.

Zelda and Link pack their bags and take an elephant for the journey, since it seems like there’s still a ways to go until they reach the voice.

They’re interesting, the tunnels. Zelda’s never seen anything like them in her life, and Link has only seen similar things in his adventurous lifetime. The luminous stones light their path, but only to an extent. She and Link have to carry torches the whole way anyway, but she appreciates the effort and their beauty.

And the drawings on the walls seem to depict a scene, but she can’t quite make it out. She thinks they may be going the wrong way, but Link refuses to turn back. Zelda, frustrated but understanding, creates crude imitations in her journal, hoping to get another glimpse of them as they come back. So far, though, it seems to be a story of a young Gerudo man living his complicated life.

Things are going as expected (letting the elephant have a short drinking break), until the voice in her head feels like somebody is speaking right in front of her. Link calculatingly looks around with his hand on his sword before his gaze slowly sets on Zelda, questioning.

Zelda’s eyes rip from Link’s, and looks through the darkness of the tunnel ahead, “I think we’re close now. The voice is strong.”

Link only nods once before gathering up their things.

_ So close _, Zelda thinks.

+

She may have nodded off for a few minutes, riding on the back of the elephant, but that doesn’t give Link the right to quietly snicker at her.

“We’ve been at this for hours now! Can you blame me?” she grumbles, crossing her arms.

She hears Link’s soft laughs, but doesn’t give him the satisfaction of her smile in return.

She likes to hear him laugh.

He doesn’t need to know that, though.

+

Finally, they get to their destination. Or what seems like a destination.

The bridge is stable, thankfully, and the river beneath it rushes downstream quietly. 

It would’ve been the perfect scene if it weren’t for the man’s voice, practically screaming in their ears. 

They both run the last few meters until slowing down at the entrance.

But… the entrance to what?

As soon as Zelda glances at the scene, she knows in an instant that they were way in over their heads.

But they came all this way…

And the man wouldn’t stop _ screaming _.

So, she and Link slowly step towards the platform. They step toward the magical green floating writing (_ Gerudo writing _, her mind confirms), that’s slowly spinning around in circles and towards the skeleton lying on an altar. She sees the hand coming from, what seems to be, a Sheikah Guidance Stone forcing it down by the chest of the body. Sheikah-like spikes come from all sides of the cave, as well. 

Malice pours out from the platform, spreading from all sides, and she’s frozen. She can’t go near that. That’s… supposed to be gone. With the Calamity. 

And that skeleton… That’s Gerudo jewelry, is it not?

As her mind jumps from object to object, trying to make sense of it all, she doesn’t realize Link wandering until it was almost too late. 

The earth rumbles and Link yelps. He looks up at her from the ground that’s crumbling beneath his feet, and she can see the unusual fear in his eyes. She runs towards him as he falls, only barely managing to grab onto his hand. 

But she’s not strong enough. The earth that’s supporting her threatens to crumble. Her mind runs from plan to plan, all of them ending in failure.

They can’t get out of this one.

“Link… I-I can’t hold on for much longer, and neither of us can move… the cliff is going to give out.”

She cannot believe that she’s been fighting Calamity Ganon for 100 years, and this is the thing that kills her. A faulty cliffside.

They were chosen by _ the goddesses _. Such a mundane thing taking their lives?

It’s pathetic.

Tears leak from the corners of her eyes, “I’m sorry, Link.”

Link’s eyes are filled with tears and he shakes his head, disbelieving.

She knows that he thinks there must be some way, but she knows there isn’t.

Her arm is getting very tired.

She prays. 

She hasn’t prayed in months, but she prays.

_ Goddess Hylia, save us. _

(Later, she’ll wonder if it was worth it.)

Zelda’s left hand gets pulled up by another and her best friend is not on unstable earth, not dangling over the side for his life.

Zelda laughs. She excitedly turns to Link, planning on giving him a hug, but the sight that greets her instead diminishes any sort of happiness from her system.

So many things happening... she doesn’t know what to focus on.

The skeleton… is moving. It’s hands… 

Shivers run down her spine as it’s head spins to face her, and it’s eyes glow a familiar color. 

She steps backwards in fear, but trips and falls on loose rocks. She crawls backwards, hoping to get near the entrance, eyes still on the skeleton, when a bright light comes from her right. She peels her eyes off of the suddenly moving being to see Link curling in on himself. 

She gasps. Oh Hylia… His hand...

Link screams. Oh, she would give anything to never hear that painful, heart-wrenching, disturbing noise. The ache she feels in her heart, as she hears the screams of misery coming from her best friend, is enough to bring tears to her eyes.

(She used to be so desperate for him to speak to her, with his words, not signs. But in that moment, as she hears his callous screams from just a few feet in front of her, she would rather not hear him speak forever than hear him.)

Eyes still watery, hands shaking, and breath trembling, she slowly stands up, and takes a step--

She doesn’t know what to do.

She’s standing up, and walking to Link, when she_ doesn’t even know what she should do. _

She can’t look away. Link’s face scrunches up, his left hand clutching his right, and his screaming doesn’t cease as the Hand and it’s glowing writing absorb further and further into his skin, becoming one with Link.

She shuts her eyes, bows her head, and as tears run down her face, she prays once more.

(Later, she’ll wonder if it was worth it.)

The screaming stops.

Zelda breathes for a minute, unsure what exactly is happening. She looks up anyway.

Link’s just… standing there. But it isn’t Link, not quite. It doesn’t look like Link, but it doesn’t feel like him more.

His hair is longer, flowing down to his knees. There’s no emotion on his face. His eyes are glowing green, and so is his right hand. 

His triforce is on his left.

(She silently thanks Hylia for that small act of grace.)

Zelda stares at this version of Link, unsure of what to do. She slowly takes a step towards the entrance of the cave, testing the waters. Dark Link takes the exact same step towards her, at the exact same time. Nothing more, and nothing less.

Her heart threatens to beat right out of her chest. 

She weighs her options. If she runs now, there might be a chance that she can save herself by shooting a bomb arrow into some loose rocks from above, hopefully stalling Dark Link’s plans. If she stays there, waiting for him to do something, there’s no telling what could happen. 

She runs for the entrance.

It’s all a blur when she thinks back later, but all she knows is that she doesn’t run fast enough. One moment she’s running for her life, the next she’s on the floor with Dark Link looming over her a few inches away from her face with a wicked grin on his face. He doesn’t do anything right then, just looks into her eyes and cocks his head.

Zelda’s never been more afraid.

(With the Calamity, she always knew Link would come and save Hyrule, save her.

But not this time.)

He raises his right glowing hand and presses one finger to Zelda’s forehead.

Pain erupts throughout her body and all she can taste is metal. She feels like her skin is ripping apart. Her ears ring. Her teeth ache, her bones feel misused, her toes feel frostbitten, her stomach burns with acid, her legs have been severed, her fingernails feel like they’ve been ripped off--

And her head feels like it's exploding.

She doesn’t remember anything after that, except the thought that maybe Link went through this, too.

She doesn’t like that thought so much, so she goes to sleep.

+

When Zelda awakens, it isn’t fast. She’s ashamed to admit that it was a rather slow awakening. She looks around, not fully registering where exactly she was. She’s no longer in the cave. She’s outside… and it’s dark… and there’s a campfire… and there’s a man by the campfire?

A… Gerudo man?

He has Gerudo style jewelry, but from long ago. His hair is a deep red and pulled back into a ponytail. He’s sharpening a Gerudo Scimitar and a Gerudo shield sits at his side as well. His clothes look like they’re a few sizes too small on him, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

In the moments she takes to study him, he looks up at her with his piercing green eyes, “Mornin’ Princess. Nice nap?”

That’s when everything hits her. Her breathing starts to grow faster and faster as her mind runs through the scene.

Unsurprisingly, all she can think of is, _ Link Link Link, Oh Hylia, _ ** _ Link is in trouble--_ **

Her thoughts get interrupted (thankfully), when the huge Gerudo man stands up. “Hey everything’s gonna be alright, alright? He’s not dead, he’s just… a little occupied right now,” he says, then scrunches his nose up a bit, “Wow, too real.”

Zelda angrily stands up, rushes towards the man, and pokes her finger at his chest, “Who are you, and _ what _are you talking about?” She only reaches about the man's chest, but meets his eyes straight on, anyway. She took on Calamity Ganon for 100 years, this guy’s no problem.

The man gulps and clenches his jaw, “Maybe it’s best that I don’t answer those questions just yet. You just need to know that I’m a friend, and I helped you get out of there alive.” He walks back toward the log and sits back down. He continues to sharpen his Scimitar.

Zelda sputters and follows him, a little mindlessly, “What do you _ mean _you can’t answer those questions? Who are you?”

The man clenches his jaw, “I can’t tell you who I am, Princess, I’m sorry. You’re just gonna have to trust me.”

“Okay, fine. Tell me this then: Where is my friend? Who-- _ What _ was that, that _ hand thing _that was hurting him? And that… skeleton who was starting to awaken? Who was that? And was it Sheikah technology that was in there? Or the Lost Zonai Tribe? What did the green writing that was in the air say? I’m not quite fluent in the Gerudo language yet, but I--”

The man pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. He’s mumbling something under his breath.

“Alright, Princess, I can answer _ some _of those, but not all of them. Just… trust me when I say that nothing good can come out of knowin’ these things, so please think about it first before I say a thing.”

Zelda doesn’t hesitate when she replies, “I want to know.”

The red haired man shakes his head in equal parts of amusement and fatigue, “Alright then. Shoot. What’s your first question?”

**Author's Note:**

> this is bad but I Needed to get it Out There  
1) please tell me if this is something people are interested in i Will make more if so. I literally have SO many ideas if i make this into a series (there will be No romance between Ganon, Zelda, or Link. idk abt others tho)  
2) the title of this doc was "arin's girl voice: YOUVE GOT TO PROTECT HTE TRIFORCE<,,,,, SL uR M PP!!"  
3) i super hoped you enjoyed! I haven't had this much fun writing something in a while :-)


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